Winner of the2014Akutagawa Prize, a sharp, photo-realistic novella of memory & thwarted hope'He'd come to realise that it was a mistake to grind up his father's remains with such a thing. The mortar was lined with narrow grooves, a little too perfect for ashes to get stuck in.'Taro is divorced, unhappy in his job, & living in a half-empty building that is about to be torn down. One summer morning, he sees a fellow resident climbing over the wall to the next-door house. She says she is called Nishi, & invites herself inside. It emerges that Nishi’s fascination with this pale blue house began in her student days twenty years before, & came from a book of photos called“Spring Garden”from decades earlier.As the summer draws to a close, Nishi, Taro & the new family that has moved into the old house come together & drift apart, leaving the reader with a sense of their whole life in just a few vivid snapshots.°°°“Shibasaki expertly weaves a sense of foreboding.” —Asymptote“Shibasaki’s writing is measured, understated & poetic at the right moments… difficult to put down…Spring Gardenis a brief, compassionate tale about loss, friendship & architecture, & the many ways we can live our lives.” —The Japan Society°°°Tomoka Shibasakiwas born in1973inOsaka& began writing fiction while still in high school. After graduating from university, she took an office job but continued writing, & was shortlisted for theBungei Prizein 1998. Her first book,A Day on the Planet, was turned into a hit movie directed byIsao Yukisada, &Spring Gardenwon the prestigiousAkutagawa Prizein 2014.Polly Bartongrew up inLondon& read philosophy at university. Since winning the inauguralJLPP International Translation Competitionin 2012, she hastranslateda variety offictionby authors includingNao-cola Yamazaki,Mitsuyo Kakuta,Misumi Kubo&Aoko Matsuda, as well as non-fiction & art-related texts.